Here, you are urged and encouraged to run your mouths about something important.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Holder in Front of Senate Judiciary Today; faces Questions about Fast and Furious

Consider Attorney General Eric Holder's appearance before the Senate Judiciary committee today at 10am EST to be the warm-up for his appearance in front of the House Judiciary committee on December 8th. The good news is that Holder is likely to face tough questions from the likes of Republican senators Chuck Grassley (IA) and John Cornyn (TX). Grassley is the guy who turned Rep. Darrell Issa onto this story when the former wasn't getting anywhere with his requests for information from the ATF. Issa, as the chairman of his committee, had more power to get the ball rolling. Grassley is as informed - if not more so - than Issa.

The bad news is very similar to why Grassley had to reach out to Issa in the first place. He is not the chairman of the Senate Judiciary; Democrat Patrick Leahy (VT) is. We can expect to see some significant political hackery today so just know that going in so you do not buy any of the spin. Leahy and his hyper-partisan colleagues, to include Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, Diane Feinstein, Al Franken, et. al, will do all they can to help Holder shift blame to the Phoenix, AZ US Attorneys office and ATF office respectively. They will also help him push the narrative that a similar operation - Wide Receiver - was run under the Bush administration.

Watch the hearing LIVE today on C-SPAN beginning at 10am EST if you can do it.

Overall, Holder will be in front of a committee that is largely sympathetic but there are sure to be moments when he is on the hot seat. There has also been speculation that testifying in front of the Senate committee first is to Holder's benefit but it may just be to his detriment. Rest assured that House Committee members like Issa, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), etc. will be watching very closely for inconsistencies from Holder; they will certainly use any and all that they find when he appears before them on December 8th.